Cisco, Eastland County
O.C. Britton opened Cisco’s first college in 1909, with a campus established on 212 acres of the Houston and Texas Central Railroad survey. The school closed after the onset of World War I, and the site was used by a series of three later colleges that opened and closed by 1938. Understanding the importance of higher education, Cisco residents encouraged the Texas Legislature to establish Cisco Junior College as part of the Cisco Independent School District in 1939. The college functioned as a branch of the school district until 1956. The school has flourished, and a free-standing Abilene campus was constructed in 2003. The institution’s name was changed to Cisco College in 2009, and it remains a vital part of the local and regional community.